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It’s the end of a decade! Wow! The Matrix is ten years old! I have more white in beard than ever! Will this planet even make it another ten years? Who knows!

I tend not to read a lot of books as they’re new. They tend to be too expensive for my tastes, I buy them all used. Or use my library. I’ve become cheap this decade!

The point is, my list isn’t extensive of the years. It is, however, a pretty decent portrayal of my limited tastes. So, without further ado, my favorite books of the 2010s, by year published!

2010I Am Not A Serial Killer by Dan Wells
This book actually freaked me out quite a bit and it’s for teenagers! I picked it up because I enjoyed Dan Wells on the Writing Excuses podcast and it was fairly recent to when I was listening. I don’t normally read horror and, actually, this might have been the first real “scary” book I read. I also made the mistake of reading this when I was home alone for a week. I’m a wimp.

The story of a boy who feels predestined on becoming a serial killer and is actively trying to fight it. That is, until someone worse moves into town. It’s a spooky character study aimed at the young adult crown that should creep out the older crowd as well. I liked the sequel even more, which came out the same year, so maybe it should have gotten the award…off to a great start!

2011Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
I suppose the backlash on this book has tainted it a bit, with it’s detractors calling it a book of lists. But, when I couldn’t put this book down and ate up the world building and concepts of the OASIS, I didn’t notice that. And, being someone who was slowly trying to read the best scifi and see the important films, I even enjoyed the references. Obviously, your mileage will vary on that sort of thing. It got me to watch The Last Starfighter.

It’s pure fulfillment, but what a wish. Would I have plugged my brain into the OASIS and moved in permanently? You bet. I enjoyed the challenges Cline provided for our hero, Wade. Joust, Dungeons and Dragons, Wargames and all that. While I think the opening race of the movie adaptation is pure gold, I did miss some of the geekier quests the book provided. I loathed Armadabut I think Ready Player One is Grade A junk food and I’ll defend it for at least one more decade.

Runner ups that year were some real cool books…Robopocalyspe by Dan H. WilsonMicro by Michael Crichton and Richard PrestonLeviathan Wakes by James S. A. CoreyThe Heroes by Abercrombie

2012The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick
This book spoke to me on a level that I didn’t realize I had. It’s not that I find the characters incredibly relatable (though I connect to anyone with a self-destructive genome) but it’s more that I find them endearing. Pat was a character I wanted nothing but the best for. And, sure, his desire to win back his ex-wife Nikki might have actually been relatable in small ways. I’m a liar. Happy?

But Pat’s relationship with his family, with Tiffany, with his therapist really fill this book out. The movie changes some of the characters a bit, putting some into the background while bringing others forward. For a while, I liked having them both to form a full picture. These days, I just need the book. It inspired some of my own writing and made me think through some choices I was making at the time. It’s a humble read, with slow pacing that never meanders, unlike some of Matthew Quick’s other books.

2013Of Dice and Men by David M. Ewalt
A bit of a geek’s travelog, but way less self-deprecating and ashamed then the obnoxious Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks by Ethan Gilsdorf. Of Dice and Men still holds Gary Gygax on a pedastle, but it doesn’t cast him in the role of a Frodo Baggins like Empire of Imagination by Michael Witwer did. It’s a fun history through Dungeons and Dragons, with trips and stories and a bit of unnecessary flavor text.

It has a deep respect for the game and those who play it. It’s a fun read, one that makes you want to breakout your own dice while reading. In some ways, it gave me a deeper appreciation for the game. It’s an everyman’s history of the game, one that I could suggest to those with a curiosity of the game, but also had enough for a lover of pen and paper to sink his teeth into.

Runner ups that year have a bit of an unintentional Ewan McGregor vibe…Doctor Sleep by Stephen KingKenobi by John Jackson Miller

2014Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
With prose that felt like poetry and a eerily calm look at the end of the world, Station Eleven was unlike anything I had read. The ruin landscape of a world ravaged by a humanity destroying virus was oddly beautiful. Emily St. John Mandel avoids the overdone pessimism of the genre that made the Cormac McCarthy’s The Road almost unbearable. Instead, St. John Mandel goes for an optimistic view of humanity picking up the pieces.

The book is also affecting in how it shows big events having origins in small moments. Independent comic books causing religious cults because they ended up in the wrong hands? It should seem silly but it comes across like a gut punch. The makeshift museum of human history is another element that’s laced in sadness but filled with hope. It really hit me in my heart.

2015Jack of Spades by Joyce Carol Oates
What a trip. I don’t know if you could call this horror, but it’s disturbing. Worse, the main character was relatable at times! His journey through madness is subtle at times, intense at others, but always gripping. There’s a Stephen King element, yes, but King would never have the courage to limit his word count to under three hundred pages.

And that’s part of the charm. You can read this book quickly and it never overstays it welcomed, but I wanted more as soon as it was over. Or more like this. I haven’t found anything quite like it, but I’m not great at reading horror, so maybe I’m looking in the wrong places. Anyway, Jack of Spades is deliciously dark and bonkers and had me laugh out loud once or twice. I need to reread this.

All young adult books for the runner ups…Lost Stars by Claudia GrayAdrift by Paul GriffinThe War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

2016Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
The only Ruta Sepetys I’ve read, failing at my job as a youth librarian. But, it was an incredible showcase. Salt to the Sea is about the tragic sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff. More than nine thousand people died, with about five thousand of them children.

The story leading up to this horrible even follows four youths during World War II. The road to the ship is fraught and each of the characters have a secret that is exposed. This was a page turner and, though I was reading this for work, I couldn’t put it down even at home. It left me depressed, as expected, and it’s stuck with me. I tend to recommend this to the young adult crowd because, like the movie Titanic, is balances gripping action and romance with a terrible tragedy in an incredibly enthralling story.

Runner up for the year it’s gonna blow some minds when it hits movie theaters.Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff

2017Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
This was not the type of book I normally read but there was so much talk around in 2017 that I had to read it for myself. And I couldn’t put it down. It felt like a thriller at times and I’m not surprised that Martin Scorsese is in talks for a movie. Seriously, even as a history book, it had me audibly gasp at certain revaluations. How fresh of a reader am I at thirty-three?

A history of the crimes committed against the Osage Indian Nation by, you guess it, white Americans, as well as a history of the FBI and it’s formation. It’s money and power telling an unfortunately familiar tale. Grann is keeps things educational, but it moves at a pace of a classic page turner. Hurry up, Scorsese.

2018Love Poems for Married People by John Kenney
I don’t get poetry more often than I do. My brain doesn’t work that way. Why doesn’t it always rhyme? Why did you put that word one extra space away? Why can’t you clean up the coffee spill with the rag right next to you, why do you have to use the shirt your mother died in?

Love Poems for Married People, on the other hand, is hilarious and is one of the funniest books I’ve read. And, listen, I saw myself in the book multiple times. I’m now trying to change some behaviors. I’m trying, okay?

It’s already been a decade? Wait, from when? Why don’t we do this every year? Anniversary things like this are dumb, why do we do them? Who cares how old The Matrix is. Ramble, ramble, ramble…

The point is, we talk about our favorite books of the decade. Not the most important books and all that. Literally the books we liked from the decade. Which means your favorite books didn’t make it! Maybe next decade!

Decade. That would be a cool name, right? “Hello, my name is Officer Jacobs and this is my partner, Decade. He’s the best there is at Robocide cases like this and we’re going to find out who deleted your husband.”

You can follow us on Soundcloud, Youtube or iTunes and even Twitter! I’m sure there’s another, cool platform I’m forgetting but you can follow us on that too!

This week’s episode on the podcast, we talk about rereading old favorites. Because we tackle the hard hitting subjects other podcasts are too afraid to cover.

“But, Eric, ” you might ask, “did you just talk about this very subject on your blog?”

I sure did! I wrote about a few posts a while ago and that blog was the inspiration for the episode. Maybe it was an inspiration to us all. But let us know how you go about rereading old books, if you do at all.

You can follow us on Soundcloud, Youtube or iTunes and even Twitter! I’m sure there’s another, cool platform I’m forgetting but you can follow us on that too!

Back when I was a kid, I would reread my favorites all the time. When it comes to the Animorphs, I gave each book multiple reads, picking different ones throughout the series or just reading the whole sage from the first book all over again.

After high school, when I got back to reading after a long break, I reread some of my favorites. Animal Farm, Fahrenheit 451, White Fang and Call of the Wild, to name a few. But as college rolled along, followed by adult life and a consistent job, I started having less time for everything, including reading.

Not only that, but my eyes began to open and I started seeing all the books I hadn’t read. The Hugo Awards, The Nebula Awards, long running series I had never heard of, new favorite authors who publish work every year, the sometimes informative New York Times Bestsellers list. All of these books taking up space in my schedule.

One of the biggest developments is my current job. Working as the Head of Youth Services, I have to try and read young adult books on a regular basis. Plus, the occasional book club for kids or adults. Even after being done with school, required reading is still a thing in my life.

So where does that leave my favorites? Gone are the days of being bored and picking up Jurassic Park for the tenth time. White Fang sits on my shelf as a memorial. It’s both sad and encouraging that I don’t have time to reread.

One one hand, I miss my favorites. They take me to their specific worlds and characters that I fell in love with in the first place. They also connect me to real time and places, reminding me of the first time I read each book. They’re time capsules equal to a great album, whose songs are forever etched in my mind with events.

But it’s also feels great to know that I’m reading so much new fiction that I don’t have time for what I’ve already read. I’m more well-read than I was when I was younger because I branched out. I let Jurassic Park lead me to Michael Crichton’s other books. And, I’ve found new favorites. Books like Salem’s Lot and A Canticle for Leibowitz are now right alongside I Am Legend.

But I still want to reread them again. I’d hate to think I’ve read World War Z for the last time. But how to I fit them all in to my life again? I reread The Outsiders for an 8th grade book club I ran, but that can only take me so far. Sometimes, I think I should just dedicate a month for my favorites. Reread April or November, or something like that.

Would that cause me to miss out on the new and possibly great books released those months? Is it worth it? Should I hope to read a great old age and reread then? Tomorrow is promised to no one so should I just start today until I have to read something new? It’s a dilemma and one that I’ve been thinking about for a while now. I don’t know how other people do it. With limited time in the day, with so much other things vying for my attention, it seems like a fool’s dream.

If someone was forcing me to reread my favorites right now, I’d probably pick Jurassic Park, World War Z, Dune and the White Fang/Call of the Wild combo. So, you know, please force me to do so. You’d be doing me a favor.